


How It Should Have Ended

by Bl00dy_Cupcake



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Discrimination, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-09-27 13:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10022501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bl00dy_Cupcake/pseuds/Bl00dy_Cupcake





	1. Chapter 1

            “I’ll do what I do best: lie, steal, cheat, and survi-!” Roman Torchwick was then swallowed whole by a Griffin. A heart shattered, wanting nothing more than to decapitate the giant Grimm. ‘ _There’s no time.’_ By the time she was off the falling ship, gunshots were repeatedly being shot, though she could not hear. A carcass chased Ruby. It was dead; holes littered its body.  
        “I’m sorry… Roman… I wish I didn’t have to… I wish I had saved you… then we could be falling together… I'm sorry.” She continued falling… until flashes of her team, team JNPR, Ozpin even, went through her mind and everything else she would break if she didn’t survive this. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose in its Sniper Rifle form and shot down at the ground. Her eyes watered, looking at the explosion caused by the ship she was just on in the distance. What Ruby didn’t know was Roman falling from the sky far from her, saved by Neo before he crashed into the earth.  
        “Woo. Thanks, Neo. Saved my sorry ass again.” Neo nodded in approval. “Where’s Red?” Roman looked around worriedly, then back at Neo, “Neo? Where is Red?” Neo just shook her head and looked down, face fallen and tears threatening. “Neo! Where is Red?!” Roman shook her shoulders roughly. “No. No, no, no, no, no! No! Neo! You’re wrong! You have to be wrong! Please tell me you’re wrong…. Please…” Roman sobbed. Neo held him as he cried. He wanted his Red back. He’d give anything to have her back. He’d give his life for her. “Red… oh Red…”  
            “Ruby! Ruby! You’re okay!” Weiss exclaimed in relief.  
            “Yeah, I'm fine.” Ruby was falling. Falling down into depression, but she knew she couldn’t let it get to her now. She had to stay strong, though she had very little strength left. The world was getting fuzzy and started to tilt. “Fine… I'm fine… don’t worry… Torchwick… he’s… gone…”  
            “Ruby! Ruby! Help! I have Ruby! She passed out!” Weiss rushed out in a panic. Jaune, Nora, and Ren ran over to aid her. They ended up running her out of Vale. Jaune, surprisingly, had found a place where Ruby could rest without being disturbed. Unfortunately, the place they had found was on the crime-side of the area. Grimm had seeped into their direction and it took all three of them to take the Death Stalker on. This one had to be a Titan or something.  
            “Ok, go! Flower Power!”  
            “Flower… Power?”  
            “Yeah y’know… you and Nora… You bring the Flower and Nora brings the Power.”  
            “How do I bring a flower?”  
            “Not an actual flower, silly!” They argued for a while as the Grimm grew weary of their bickering and attacked. The Team JN-R, of course, were oblivious to the monster running their way. How lucky they were to have a renowned criminal show up to kill the Grimm before it could reach them.  
            “Man, to think that this is what Beacon is making. Pathetic.” JN-R turned in shock. Their stood a few good meters behind them was "The-Supposedly-Dead-Or-So-Ruby-Said" criminal. “If this is what Ozpin has been doing all these years, then I'm very disappointed.”  
            “What are you doing here? Ruby said you were dead!” Jaune shouted, still quite alarmed.  
            “Well, isn’t it obvious that I'm alive and well? I was saved by dearest Neo,” Neo appeared at the mention of her name, “and we landed here. So tell me something, how's Red?”  
            “Red? Who’s Red? Ren, who’s Red?”  
            “I believe he's talking about Ruby, Nora.”  
            “Ruby? Hey, do you think she's ok where we left her?”  
            “You left her in that condition? What kind of people are you?” JN-R looked both shocked and confused. “Last I saw her, she was bleeding quite heavily and very close to blacking out.”  
            “You… you saw Ruby?”  
            “Unfortunately, yes. I did.” Roman looked down in shame. Neopolitan came up behind him and patted him gently on the back. Roman sighed, “Where is Red? Did you bring her here?” JN-R glanced at each other as if mentally debating the risks.  
            “Should we bring him to her? I mean it couldn’t hurt and he might be able to help her, right?” Nora and Jaune nodded and turned back to face Roman. Ren spoke for them, “Come with us. We’ll show you to Ruby,” Nora gestured for Roman to follow with Magnhild. Roman obeyed quietly with Neo in tow. A few minutes later they arrived at the house where they left Ruby, who was thankfully still there and not dead.  
            “Here. Don’t hurt her or we won’t hesitate to kill you. Got it?” Nora threatened.  
            “Yeah. Got it,” Roman looked over to Ruby and frowned. “Come on, Red. Don’t die on me yet," he whispered, kneeling next to her shallow-breathing body(which was on a bed, don’t freak). She mumbled. “What was that, Red?”  
            “Roman…… No….” Ruby squirmed as Roman put his hand on her arm. JN-R looked beyond surprised. Hell, wouldn’t you be if your best friend just said your enemy’s name?  
  
  
  
(I know the characters a bit ooc, but hush)


	2. Chapter Two: Pain

 

>         Jaune spluttered as he looked to Ren and Nora. "Wait, what? What d-did she just say?" Nora just stood there in - a slightly comical figure of - disbelief and Ren stared. He only stared, unable to breathe, unable to move, unable to think.   
>          "Red..." Roman couldn't fully comprehend what had happened. Red, no, Ruby had... had spoken his name. "Dammit," he whispered. He shook her shoulder lightly, calling out to her, "Red. Red! Dammit, Red! Wake up! I ne- they need you. Come on, Red. I know you can do it. I know you can open those pretty silver eyes of yours," JN-R could hardly believe what they were hearing, "please, Red, please."   
>          Neo sighed and turned to the remaining children that once made Team JNPR. She made a shooing motion towards them as they looked at her, confused. Neo sighed again. She looked behind her shoulder at the scene behind her, Roman had taken off his coat and hat and placed them upon Ruby. She wasn't doing too good by the looks of it. Neo turned back to the uneasy group and gestured to them, then the door, exaggeratedly. It took them a moment until Ren finally deciphered her silent demands. He tugged Jaune and Nora towards the door. However, they were still confused as they stumbled. Neo silently followed with a glance over her shoulder.

        "C'mon Red, I know you can wake up. I know you're stronger than this. Please Red, wake up for me. Open those eyes and see me," Roman whispered as tears silently glided down his cheeks, "I don't care if you hate me for the rest of your life, just please wake up. Dammit Red, _wake up_!" He screamed at the unconscious body.

        "You.... You want me to wake up?" Roman looked down to the small body he had been clutching desperately.

        "R-Red? Is... is.... Are you really awake? Am I dreaming? Oh Dust, this better not be a dream."

        "I-I'm awake? What happened? I remember seeing my friends, but then it all goes black. Wait, what are you doing here?! What's going on?! Let go of me!"

        "Red calm down-"

        "No! Let go of me, Torchwick! Let go!" 

        "Red-"

        "Let go! Let me go!"

        "Red! Stop! Just wait a minute! Damn, I'm not going to hurt you," Roman sighed softly.

        "I-I... What?" Ruby stuttered, confused.

        "Just... Stop and listen to me. Please, Red," Roman looked up with desperate, pleading eyes. Ruby couldn't get her voice to work, it seemed to have just shut off? She nodded instead. "Good. Red, I'm-I'm sorry. About everything. About the crystal, the fights, the," his voice trailed off as he looked away from her, ashamed, and whispered "the beating.". Ruby stared at him in absolute disbelief as this sudden apology began to sink in. Roman glanced up at her when she gently placed her small hand on his knee.

        "Torchwick... I-I don't know what to say... I, um, I accept your apology, I guess," Roman smiled hopefully at her words, "but," his smile fell, "I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry I fought you. I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm so so sorry for everything!" Ruby sobbed into her hands, "I'm sorry Roman! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me.... I was so... so... mean...." Ruby's voice trailed off as light hiccups replaced it. Roman was in shock, not only had she apologized, a lot, but she had also called him by his first name. "I-I... So sorry..."

        "Red. Red look at me," Ruby peeked through her fingers and into his calming, green eyes, "Red. I... forgive you. In all honesty, I could never stay mad at you."

        "Torchwick-"

        "Please call me Roman. Like you did before."

        "R-Roman," she hadn't even realized that she had said his name. In the heat of the moment, she guessed. Roman smiled at her, wrapping his arms slowly around her and pulled her to his chest.

        "Ruby," she gasped quietly at her name. How did he know- "Ruby? Please be careful from now on." She frowned.

        "I am careful!"

        "Not enough, then. In case you didn't notice, you're in an old, broken bed, with a criminal holding you, trying to keep you stable in hopes of you not passing out again."

        "I-"

        "No. You are going to be more careful. You have to be, Red. Please, please be more careful. If not for me, for your friends waiting outside that door."

        "Fine. If you're careful, too. I don't want you getting eaten by a Grimm again," she pleaded. Roman laughed.

        "I will, Red. I will," he sighed. They stared at each other for a moment before Roman let go of her and stood up, "now I'm sure you'd like to see your friends?" Ruby nodded eagerly but stopped when she began to feel dizzy. He chuckled as she tried to glare at him. "I'll go get them, then."

        "Thank you, Roman."

        "No problem, Red," with that, Roman turned and strode to the door. After one last glance and wink at Ruby, he opened the door and went out, softly shutting it behind him.

        "Torchwick? What's wrong? Did something happen to Ruby?!" Jaune began to panic as he saw the forlorn expression on the criminal's face.

        "I-I'm sorry. Sh-She just she just looked at me then... then she just went limp. I couldn't find a pulse. I'm so sorry," Roman looked down at feet. He could feel their eyes staring into his chilly soul. Neo silently scoffed.

        "What? Torchwick, you're lying, right? You're not saying Ruby is dead. She couldn't have died that easily! She was a team leader for a reason! I-It can't be true! Uh, h-her Aura would've healed her! There's no way she could be dead!" Jaune was in hysterics.

        "It tried. Her Aura tried, but her wounds were too deep and too many. Her Aura couldn't get to all of them in time and she bled out. I'm so sorry. I tried," Roman's shoulders shook. Neo pushed through the teenagers to get to him and with a huff, she smacked him on the side of his head. She glared down menacingly. "Heh-heh. Neo, what, ah, is the problem? What was that for anyway?"

        Neo frowned and signed  _"Quit messing around! They're just kids, they're already hurting from earlier. please stop."_

        "Neo, you have such a way with words," Roman sighed. The others looked at the pair, confused. 

        "Torchwick?"

        "Yeah, Neo's right," Neo smiled smugly, "Ruby's not dead, she's just resting inside. It's fun manipulating people. I mean, right then, if I wanted to, I could have sent you all to your death. With your strong sense of  _'justice'_ and all, it would have been easy to convince you that trying to kill all of the Grimm would avenge her death," he laughed, but quickly added once he saw Neo's glare once more, "I wasn't going to because Red wouldn't be too happy with me if I did. Hell, she'd probably force herself up and kill me. I would do that, too."

        "Let's go see her then!" Nora exclaimed, pushing past everyone to get to the door. When she opened it, she almost screamed at what she saw. There was an unmoving and unbreathing body laying on the old bed. "Ruby?" Nora whispered, "Ruby, are you alright?"

        "What's wrong, Nora?"

        "Ruby... Ruby get up. Please, get up!" The young girl ran over to her best friend. Nora shook and called out her name, but when she didn't even get a twitch, she swiveled and faced Roman. "You! How could you?! You bastard, you said she was alive! You said she was fine and waiting for us! You evil, lying, rat! I'm going to break you, let you heal, then break you again. I'm going to torture you. I'm going to make you hurt so badly, you'd wish I'd just kill you already. Yeah, I'm going to kill you slowly, and you're going to scream and cry," Nora's face split into a demented smile, "yep, I'm going to make you bleed."

        "Nora, wait-"

        "No. He's going to pay for this," Nora approached Roman, swinging Magnhild gently. Neo intercepted and held her parasol to Nora's throat. Undeterred, Nora suddenly swung her weapon into Neo's stomach, never stopping her approach. Neo landed with a loud thud against the wall and slid down.

        "Neo! Shit. Wait, Red! Red, you better still be alive!" Fear was evident in his voice as he called out to the small girl. Ruby quickly opened her eyes and sat up, wincing slightly.

        "Stop! Stop, wait, please don't hurt him. He didn't do anything! I heard what Torchwick had said outside and I thought it might be kinda fun to mess with you guys. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Ruby kept repeated it almost like a mantra. Nora stopped as Ruby spoke and had slowly turned around, staring in shock at the girl. Since Nora had paused in her execution, Roman ran over to his fallen comrade and helped her stand up. Neo had to lean against the wall to maintain her balance when Roman slowly and carefully let go.

        "What?" Nora asked in a low voice.

        "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ruby had begun to cry as she continued apologizing. It seemed like she had blocked out the world. Nora turned back to Ren and Jaune, who were equally surprised. Roman walked swiftly over to Ruby and held her close to him as she sobbed, which nearly made Jaune faint. Who wouldn't if a criminal was holding your best friend with the utmost tenderness and care?

        "Red. Red, it's alright. You're ok. Don't worry, they forgive you. It wasn't your fault-"

        "Yes, it was! If I hadn't tricked them, then Nora wouldn't have hurt your friend, she wouldn't have almost killed you! I-"

        "Red, stop," Roman rubbed her back gently and Ruby hiccuped, "deep breaths, Red. Deeps breaths. That's it, there you go. Just calm down. I shouldn't have started that anyway. You're fine, just calm down. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Good girl." Ruby had calmed down and Roman whispered softly into her ear, "there you go, Red. None of it was your fault, you're perfectly safe. You don't need to worry anymore."

        "But it is! How many times are you going to say that?! I'm tired of you taking the blame! I.... I've done my research about you. I've had Yang help. I know she knows the club owner. She saw you leaving there once. She asked me why and I lied to her! My sister! She interrogated the club guy, though she didn't say what she did, and he said that you weren't at fault. He almost begged her to not hurt you. Why do you think she didn't kill you when you fell from the Paladin? Why do you think she didn't kill Mercury or Emerald? We thought that you would become depressed and I hated that. I didn't ever want to hurt you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't go after the Griffon. I'm sorry I d-"

        "Red, stop. You never did anything wrong, other than helping a criminal, but that's beside the point. I'm the one who needs to apologize. For everything. From the first time I tried to kill you with the Dust Crystal, to the... the ship. I'm so sorry, Ruby. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I've hurt you too much," Roman laid his head on her chest, trying not to cry. He failed.

        "Roman," Ruby rubbed his back soothingly as he cried. The touching scene left everyone else extremely confused, even Neo, who already knew about Roman's affiliation with the girl. Roman hardly ever cried and when he did, it was because he was almost fatally injured. Never had she seen him this broken. Never had she seen him this far. Never. 

        "I'm so sorry, Red. I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry. Please, never let me hurt you again. Please, Red, please."

        "Roman," Ruby sighed, "Roman, you're fine. I forgive you. You didn't have a choice. I forgive you, don't worry." After a moment of silence, excluding the breakdown that Roman was trying to recover from, Jaune cleared his throat as politely as he could.

        "I don't want to be rude, but we should move. It's not safe being so close to the fight right now. Torchwick, you're a criminal-" a glare from Neo forced him to correct himself, "-I mean,  _were_  a criminal, so would you happen to know of any safe places we could hide Ruby until she gets better?"

        "Not that that _wasn't_ rude, but I might know of a few safe houses. I'll have to talk to a contact of mine before we move, though. He'll want to know that I'm alive and well and all that shit that he worries about. You know he's worried about you too, Neo." Neo blushed.


End file.
